Be There For Me
by apracot
Summary: Sequal to my story "Foundations" but you don't have to read that to understand this. Emily's relationship with Allen goes from bad to worse and Hotch is the one she leans on. WARNING: scenes/mentions of abuse. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Ok so this is a follow up to my story "Foundations". If you haven't read that story you can still read this one, though some of the flashbacks may not make much sense and of course I would advise reading the story anyway because I wrote it, lol.  
_

Hotch rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times in a bid to keep them open just a while longer. He then let his gaze fall on the clock that sat on the side table beside the couch in his sitting room, and read the blazing numbers of half four in the morning.

He sighed to himself and shook his head as he shifted in his seat slightly to find a comfortable position to sit in for the next few hours.

As he sat there, he couldn't help but let his mind wander... he needed something to do, or think about as the case was, while he sat there.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"_Morning." Hotch whispered when he noticed Emily's head begin to stir from where she lay, snuggled in tight to his side, with her head on his shoulder, her arms around his waist and her legs knotted through his._

"_What time is it?" Emily groaned after a moment, tilting her head up so she could look Hotch in the eye._

"_It's just after nine Emily." Hotch replied softly. "How about you try and get some more sleep." He added then, knowing that she was probably still exhausted._

"_Oh my god! It's nine and you didn't wake me." Emily gasped suddenly, jumping up in the bed, clutching her neck only briefly as the sudden movement caused the pain in it to flare up again._

"_It's ok, don't worry." Hotch soothed, trying to pull her back into the bed gently, the task becoming difficult when he remembered the bruising that covered her shoulder and neck. "Strauss let us take the day off after the last case, you can rest for a while." He reminded her._

"_No, no I have to go home." Emily informed him in a slight panic. "Allen's going to wake up soon and... and I have to be back by then!" She told Hotch, extracting herself from his loose grip as she spoke and sliding out of bed to look for her clothes._

"_So you're still going back?" Hotch asked, trying to hide the hurt in his voice, as he watched her scurry to the far end of the room and begin rooting, in the bag she'd brought, for clothes to wear._

"_Of course I am." Emily replied, not even looking up from what she was doing as she spoke._

"_You don't have to." Hotch whispered, never letting his gaze fall off her as the pyjama top she was wearing slid slightly off her shoulder and the bruising from the previous night became visible, reminding Hotch why she needed to stay._

"_Yes I do." Emily whispered, waiting until she'd collected all her clothing from her bag before she continued. "Yes I do Hotch, I have to go back or thing's will get worse." She informed him sadly, looking away from the piercing gaze that was making her squirm._

"_Then don't go back at all... please Emily, stay here with me... and Jack." Hotch pleaded, rising slightly from the bed._

"_No..." Emily whispered, now not even attempting to meet his gaze._

"_Why Emily, why do that to yourself, why let this happen?" Hotch questioned, not being able to understand why she couldn't just run away._

"_It's so complicated." Emily sighed, letting herself slump into the seat in the corner. "I love him, and I don't want to leave him because I'm afraid to be alone, and... and if I leave people will ask questions... and I don't want to have to answer them Aaron, because if I do I'll have to admit that the brave, smart Emily Prentiss, the girl who never falters, the one who survived a beating from Cyrus, and a car crash and an abortion, that that woman is letting her boy friend hit her? Damn it I can't even admit that to me yet, so no... I'm going to go back there, because I'm afraid of what happens if I don't." She confessed bitterly._

"_So you're going back..." Hotch said again, this time even quieter than before, almost as if saying it quietly would stop it from being real._

"_I'm going back." Emily repeated, louder than Hotch had, as she rose off the chair and headed towards the bathroom to get changed._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

That morning had been six months ago, and Hotch hated the fact that since then things hadn't gotten and better... in fact there had been moments when things had gotten considerably worse.

It was after that night though, that Hotch made a vow to himself to look after Emily, and to do everything he could to protect her from Allen, not that this was an easy task, especially when the person he was trying to protect insisted that she didn't need protecting.

After that night he called her up every evening to ask her had Allen gone out drinking, and to remind her that if need be she could come over to his place, or even better, he could come over to hers.

At first she'd told him to just leave it, that she could manage things on her own, but after a month and a half Hotch had received a phone call that had changed the tune of what Emily told him.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"_Hello?" Hotch murmured into the phone, which he now kept beside his bed just encase Emily called again._

"_Hello, is this Agent Aaron Hotchner?" A friendly female voice responded._

"_Uh yes, I'm Agent Hotchner... who is this?" Hotch asked, sitting up in bed and already looking around his room for clothes he could throw on if, and probably when, he was called into the office._

"_Agent Hotchner, I'm Abby Reynolds, I'm a nurse at Virginia Hospital Center." The woman told him, her voice now sounding the slightest bit upset. "You're listed on one of our patients' emergency contacts." She informed him._

"_Oh god... who is it?" Hotch asked quickly, the news that one of his team...because that's who he presumed it was due to the fact that Jack was safe in bed... was injured, always chilling him to the bone._

"_It's Agent Emily Prentiss." The nurse replied. "She told doctors she got into a fight at a bar and her injuries were worse than she thought so she drove here. We've admitted her overnight to be safe, but she seems ok." She told Hotch quickly, trying to calm him down._

"_Oh no." Hotch whispered, more to himself than to Nurse Reynolds. "She told me he was staying at home." He sighed. _

"_Excuse me?" The nurse asked in confusion, obviously thinking Hotch was talking to her. _

"_Uh... I'll be there right away." Hotch replied quickly, before jamming the phone back on the stand and leaping out of bed to find anything to wear._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

That phone call alone had been enough to chill Hotch to the bone, and the entire ride to the hospital had passed in a blur, all he really remembered was calling Jessica to come and look after Jack, adding a brief explanation for the rude wake up call, and then arguing briefly with hospital staff about whether or not he was Emily's family.

It was the conversation that had taken place once he was inside the room with Emily that stuck in his mind the most.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"_What are you doing here?" Emily rasped once Hotch entered the room, her voice probably sore from yelling at Allen to leave her alone._

"_Emergency contact, now where is the bastard?" Hotch growled, giving the room the once over before returning his gaze to Emily._

"_Probably passed out on the couch by now." Emily replied sadly. "But please don't." She added pleadingly, holding out a hand to Hotch as if this would stop him._

"_You can't still tell me that you love him." Hotch cried, moving to her bedside and grasping her small hand in his, looking over it and seeing defensive wounds running up her wrist. "I mean look what he's done to you this time." _

"_I don't know Hotch... It's harder than if I love him or not." Emily sighed, also looking at her scratched wrists._

"_But Emily, you have to protect yourself, I mean look what he done to you." Hotch cried in frustration, motioning to her black eye, bust lip, scratched arms and two of the fingers on her right hand which were in a splint. "You're not always going to be lucky enough to get away with a few cuts and a broken finger." He told her sadly._

"_But... I can't... I can't leave." Emily whispered, as a tear rolled down her face and she turned away. "I still can't go... I'm still not brave enough... I'm just not." She whispered in shame._

"_I can be strong for you... we can do this together." Hotch answered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close as it was what felt natural._

"_All I need from you is to promise not to give up on me." Emily whispered against his chest. "If I have that then I'll be fine... I promise." She informed him._

"_Then I promise I'll never give up on you Emily Prentiss... Never." Hotch whispered, as he kissed the top of her head._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

And Hotch was a man of his word... he'd never in a million years give up on Emily Prentiss, and this is why, four and a half months after that conversation, he was sitting by the door at half four in the morning, even though he knew he had work the next day, because he also knew that Allen was drinking tonight.

Sometimes it was ok though, sometimes he could sit all night and have nothing but bags under his eyes to show for it the next morning, but sometimes, the majority of the time, he had a bruised, and teary eyed Emily Prentiss to show for his late nights.

She'd turn up on his door, bag in hand, and without even talking now, he'd lead her to the couch, where he'd dress her wounds if they were bad, which they rarely were, and he'd then take her to bed with him and sooth her off to sleep as she lay in his arms, sitting with her through the nightmares and calming her down.

It was that, which scared him moist though, the fact that he called that scenario routine now, that that is what he done out of instinct... when really, no one should ever be used to cleaning up their friends cuts and bruises, especially if he loved Emily as much as he told himself he did.

If he loved her so damn much why was he letting this happen?

If he loved her why didn't he beat Allen to a pulp and save Emily?

If he loved her why not be a man and protect her?

Because he'd promised her he wouldn't and he was too much of a coward to break his word to her...  
_

There, this is probably going to be three or four chapters long, so I hope you like it so far, and thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

So this is chapter two of "Be There For Me". Thanks for all your reviews so far and thanks for reading the first chapter as well.  
_

Emily woke suddenly from her peaceful sleep, not fully aware of what had woken her, but knowing whatever it was must have made quite a noise to wake her from, what she had been told by JJ, was an exceptionally deep sleep.

She rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes and was just about to slide out of bed to investigate when she heard a loud crash, followed by even louder cussing... she should have known it would be him.

She sat frozen in the bed then, half sitting, half lying down, not sure what to do next... she would normally get out of bed and help him, but that often ended in a black eye or a bust lip for her, so this time she decided to try a different technique... she stayed in bed, completely still, hardly even breathing as she slid back down to a sleeping position and closed her eyes.

Now that she couldn't see, Emily's other senses were heightened and she heard each step as Allen moved from the kitchen, to the living room, then as he made his way up the stairs, and as he moved across the landing, finally stopping outside the bedroom door.

It was as she heard the bedroom door creek open and his steps come into the room, that Emily started to feel a fear in the pit of her stomach, like she knew this was a bad idea, like she knew that she should have gotten up and helped him to bed, because he was bound to be angry that she hadn't, and she was bound to get a lot worse than a black eye this time.

"M-lee." Came Allen's drunken call from across the room. "M-lee help." He hissed, as his footsteps came to a stop around the small chair in the room, if Emily's senses were correct.

Emily peaked an eye open, just enough to see him leaning against the chair, removing his shoe. She could so easily get up and help, but he might be angry she didn't wake sooner, and he might just leave her alone if she pretended to sleep.

"M-lee, don't be a stuck up bitch... help me." Allen growled again, this time sounding angry.

Again Emily lay in silence, trying to stop the small tremors of her body, as she shook in anticipation for the pain that she now knew was coming... why she hadn't just gotten up.

"Bitch!" Allen finally screeched, and seconds later Emily felt something hard come in contact with the side of her head and it caused her to sit up quickly, and looked down at her lap to see Allen's shoe lying there innocently.

"Allen what the hell?" Emily shouted in astonishment.

"Why the hell didn't you help me?" Allen roared, as he took a step closer to the bed, almost losing his footing on the rug that lay on the wooden floor.

"I didn't... I was sleeping... Allen I'm..." Emily started in panic, her words coming out in a jumble as she saw the anger rise in his eyes, and before she had time to react, his other shoe came flying at her, hitting her on the left cheek, and leaving a stinging pain, than brought involuntary tears to her eyes.

"You're such a selfish cow M-lee... always thinking of yourself." Allen shouted, in a spiteful, mocking tone, which always made Emily flinch, even when he was sober.

"That's not true... you know that's not true." Emily whispered in shame, as she bowed her head and clutched her cheek, a burning pain still pulsing in it.

"Oh, silly me." Allen laughed. "Of course you don't just think of yourself... when you get bored of that there's always that Agent Hotchner to day dream about... him and his son... John, or Jake or whatever the kids name is." He accused venomously.

"No I'm not!" Emily replied quickly, the pain in her cheek now being forgotten, this accusation... this truthful accusation if she was honest... bringing the fear back once more instead, a fear this time, that Allen would do what he'd always promised he'd do if she tried to leave him... make sure she never could.

"You better not be." Allen hissed. "Like any man would look twice at you anyway." He added in a low sneer.

Emily let out a sigh, and she closed her eyes as Allen's lat statement washed over her... it was odd, she could take the beatings, she could survive them, and get through them, but it was his words, they were the things that stayed with her, once her cuts were healed and her bruises had faded away, is was his words that lingered with her, making her doubt herself, making her wonder if he was right... if maybe no one would ever look at her, if she was damaged goods now, if the bruises had left a lasting effect.

Truth be told she did love Hotch, she loved him with all her heart, but it wasn't just Allen's threats keeping her away from him... it was the fact that he was the only person in the world who knew what she'd been through, the only person who knew what was happening once her front door was closed, and that scared her, it scared her more than anything Allen could ever do to her, it scared her because she was afraid that now that he'd seen it... he'd never love her back.

"So... are we just going to lie here all night?" Allen whispered in Emily's ear causing her to jump slightly, as she'd been too lost in thought to notice him get into the bed.

"I'm actually tired... I'm just going back to sleep." Emily replied, even feigning a yawn as she edged herself as far away from Allen as possible without falling on the floor.

"I wasn't asking..." Allen growled, his hand slipping under Emily's top causing her to flinch, and an involuntary shudder to pass through her.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

As Emily lay in the bed, her arms wrapped securely around her bare and exposed body, listening to Allen's defining snores, she tried to ignore the dull ache in her chest, the pain of which wasn't sore, it was more of a crippling feeling, that didn't hurt, but that was just there.

She felt her body tremble, only partly because of the cold room, and she tried to think of anything else... anything at all, and she wasn't surprised with the memory that came to mind.

The event she thought about had occurred two months ago, the first time something like this had happened when Allen was drunk, though despite that it was one of Emily's fondest memories.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"_Room for one more?" Emily whispered with a teary smile, once Hotch swung his door open, mere seconds after she'd knocked, and even though Emily knew this meant he'd yet again been waiting up for her, she chose to ignore that fact, being happy that he had._

"_Always." Hotch replied, holding back his heavy sigh, as he allowed her to step passed him, not immediately noticing any signs that she'd been hit, though knowing that this normally meant they weren't visible, not that they weren't there._

_He followed her into the living room and watched as she took of her long jacket, revealing bruises running up the length of her arms, due to the sleeves night dress she was wearing underneath._

"_How are you going to hide them?" Hotch questioned sadly, knowing there wasn't even a point in asking why she didn't leave, knowing the answer was always the same._

"_Long sleeved top." Emily replied calmly, sitting down and watching as Hotch walked over with a first aid kit that he kept in a drawer beside the couch._

"_Any of them particularly sore?" Hotch asked, as he opened the kit on his knee and surveyed her arms._

"_This one here." Emily whispered, pointing to where Allen had dug his nails into her flesh. "It's what hurts the most." She lied, knowing she'd never tell Hotch, or anyone, what was hurting her the most right now._

"_Right, this might sting." Hotch informed her, just like he always did, as he poured some iodine on cotton wool and began dabbing it gently on her cuts._

_Emily hissed slightly when the cotton wool made contact with her skin, but said no more, instead relishing in the care and attention she was receiving from Hotch, as he slowly dabbed her wounds, trying not to hurt her, as he fixed her up._

"_There." Hotch whispered lovingly after a moment. "All done here."_

"_Thank you." Emily replied with a smile._

"_You know Emily you don't have to-"Hotch started quickly, looking into her eyes to try and get through to her._

"_Please Aaron not tonight... especially not tonight." Emily whispered teary eyed, as she placed a finger on his mouth to silence him._

"_Ok... ok." Hotch replied with a defeated sigh. "In that case I've only one more thing to ask you... Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly?" He asked, knowing from the look in Emily's eye that she wasn't going to sleep, and also knowing that old movies were the only things that could fix that._

"_Uh, tonight I'm in a Grace Kelly mood, we've watched all the Hepburn classics already... I haven't seen "Rear Window" or "The Country Girl" in a while though." Emily told him, leaning in closer to Hotch's side, finding that she was always oddly calm when she was near him._

""_Rear Window" it is then." Hotch announced, pulling his laptop over onto his lap and bringing up "Rear Window" on Netflix, wrapping his arm around Emily's waist before he hit play.  
__

Well yea... that chapter was a little bit dark, but uh... I think it's going to get better from now on (yea, I say I think, because I didn't plan on making this chapter bad and look how it turned out). So thank you for reading and please tell me what you thought, good or bad, because I'm not sure how well I'm doing with this story.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok so this is chapter three of "Be There For Me". Thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter, I'm glad you like it so far, and I hope you like this chapter as much.  
_

Emily felt a tear escape as she lay in the cold bed, still listening to Allen's thundering snores. She looked over at the man beside her briefly, before turning back and glancing at the clock that informed her it was just after five in the morning.

She rose from the bed slowly, making sure not to cause the bed to creek or the blankets to be pulled off Allen, and she stood slowly on the floor, walking reluctantly over to the full length mirror that stood in the corner and slowly she raised her eyes and looked at herself.

Her big brown eyes gazed back at her, tears pooling in them, and with a bruise under her left eye from where the shoe had hit her. Hesitantly she let her eyes travel her body to survey the damage, bruising on her shoulders and upper arms, bruising on her wrists, hips, and thighs, her once porcelain skin now blemished by these dark, black and blue marks.

She felt herself shake then, and she wasn't sure if it was fear, tears, of just sadness that caused her to, but she sank slowly to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling them up under her chin, as she leant her head against the wall and let herself cry.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch sighed to himself, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes once more and looked at the clock again, which was now telling him that it was just after five in the morning.

"Maybe tonight was one of the good nights..." He sighed to himself, as he picked up his now empty mug, which had once contained coffee, and walked to the kitchen to place it in the dishwasher.

He knew he should get some sleep, because even he couldn't function without any, and he had to get up at seven to get Jack ready for school, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, a feeling that he should stay awake encase she came, or maybe even call her to make sure she was ok.

He was sure it was nothing... he was sure that she was probably sleeping soundly in bed right now, Allen being passed out on the couch, and that calling at this hour would only cause trouble... so he should leave it and just go to bed.

Or should he?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Emily lay on the floor long after her tears stopped, just holding herself, wishing there was someone here to comfort her, to look after her right now, but there wasn't... the one man who would be willing to do this was probably asleep, knowing that he had to get up to help his son get ready for school in the morning.

Instead of letting her mind dwell on Hotch, Emily slowly rose from the floor and picked up her dressing gown, wrapping it around her tightly and giving Allen one more glance, to make sure he was still asleep, before exiting the room silently and walking down stairs and into the kitchen.

It was something about this room that calmed her, maybe it was the neutral colours on the wall, or the gentle hum of the fridge in the corner, but she was always calm in this room, so as she reached up to get a glass out of the press so she could get some water, she felt a calming wave run through her, making her feel like everything was all right... even as she poured the water and her eyes lingered on the bruises on her wrist, she convinced herself that she was all right... that she was fine.

"Damn it Prentiss compose yourself." She murmured as she walked over and sat on the couch, angry with herself for showing this much emotion.

In her head she felt selfish for feeling like this... she'd seen woman who suffered worse at the hands of a man, woman who were a lot weaker than her, but they stayed strong, even during her time working in Chicago in homicide, and briefly sex crimes, she'd seen women who were beaten on a daily basics... she wasn't that bad off, sure in the last six months she'd ended up on Hotch's doorstep on about ten occasions, but that was all... it's not like she landed there every night.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration... she hated it, hated what was happening, hated that she was too scared to change it, hated that she was too weak to change it, hated hat she was sitting awake after five in the morning feeling venerable, she was a fully trained FBI agent for Christ sakes, she had one of the best shots in the FBI, she knew hand to hand defence training, and she'd even learnt some kick ass moves off Morgan, so why... why was she sitting here scared, and lonely?

She sighed again, and downed her drink in one last gulp, before standing, intending to get some sheets out of the press and sleeping on the couch when the phone began to ring.

At first the shrill noise scared the crap out of her as it cut through the previously silent room, but once she regained her wits, she realised that the noise may wake Allen, she quickly ran over and picked up the line.

"Hello?" She whispered a little breathlessly, as she carried the cordless phone to the kitchen, where there was less chance of the conversation waking Allen up.

"Hello Emily, its Hotch." The familiar and soothing voice replied, immediately causing the emotion that Emily had been feeling about the situation flare up again... the knowing that she was keeping this knowledge from Hotch being almost too much to bare.

"Hotch, hi!" Emily replied, sounding overly cheery in an attempt to hide the emotion in her voice. "What makes you call at this hour?" She questioned, as if the answer wasn't already apparent to both of them.

"You know why Emily." Hotch replied, not being in the mood to play the game they normally played, that she was fine. "And I can tell from the tone of your voice that I was right to call." He added sadly.

"I'm fine, honest." Emily lied, pulling her dressing gown around her waist tighter as she told the lie.

"Please Emily, don't do this." Hotch pleaded, almost seeing the face she put on when she was lying materialise in front of his face as her words came through the line. "I just want to know if you're ok, I'm worried about you." He added sadly.

As his words reached her ears Emily could feel her wall crumble, the knowledge that someone was worried about her, that Hotch was worried about her, sending her over the edge and opening her eyes for the first time, after months of pain, to what was happening.

"I... I... I'm so sorry!" Emily cried eventually, tears streaming thick and fast down the side of her face, stinging the mark under her eye, but also soothing her.

"Emily what's wrong? What's the matter?" Hotch asked in a panic, the sound of her tears scaring him to the core, because after everything that had happened, this was the first time she'd cried.

"I need... I'm scared... I need... you were right." She sobbed, her tears causing her to choke on her words, as she slumped down against the fridge door and held herself tightly.

"I'm coming... I swear to you Em, I'm coming right now." Hotch informed her, already grabbing his car keys and running to the door.

"M-lee, where the hell are you?" A still drunken Allen suddenly bellowed from upstairs, obviously haven just woken up to find an empty bed.

"Hurry... please Aaron, hurry." Emily whispered fearfully, before placing the phone down on the floor beside her, as she heard Allen's feet hit the stairs.  
_

A bit of suspense there! Not too long a chapter either, but the next one will be I promise. I'm also thinking of writing another story about Hotch helping Emily once she leaves Allen, so I'd like to know if you think I should or not, because you guys are the experts when it comes to what you want to read. Anyway, tell me if I should write another story, and tell me what you thought of this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok so this is the final chapter in "Be There for Me". Thank you to all the wonderful people who've reviewed up until now, and I hope you like this chapter just as much as you've liked my other ones.  
_

As the footsteps got closer Emily shut her eyes tight, and shakily rose to her feet, before taking a few calming breaths and opening them again, knowing that this was it... she was leaving, he couldn't hurt her anymore, it was over.

"Emily, what the hell are you doing down here?" Allen questioned, once he reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted her staring at him from the kitchen.

"I was getting a glass of water." Emily lied easily, knowing that it was best to stall Allen until Hotch arrived as back-up.

Allen seemed to believe her, even nodding his head and smiling slightly, as if nothing had happened, before he spotted the phone.

"Why is that at your feet?" He questioned, pointing at the offending device. "Who were you calling?" He roared, commanding to know the answer.

"No one, I swear, no one... there was a prank call." Emily lied again, a hint of nerves creeping into her voice.

She knew Hotch would be here soon, he lived only a few minutes away, but that didn't stop her being afraid of Allen, and at this moment she was feeling a fear like never before.

"You're lying... you're lying to me!" Allen roared, before lunging at Emily, and almost knocking her to the ground, as she just about managed to dodge his tackle.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch skidded to a halt outside Emily's apartment building and ran in the doors and through the lobby, ignoring the calls of the doorman, as he took the stairs two or three at a time rather than wait in a lift only one thought being on his mind at the moment... Emily's plea for help, and her last words to him... "Hurry."

He halted outside her door briefly, searching frantically in his pocket for the spare key to her apartment, when he sound of breaking glass and a muffled scream suddenly echoed through the door.

Hotch pulled his key out of his pocket, and rammed it into the lock, swinging the door open, only to find a chain on the door.

He could feel panic set in now as yet another muffled cry rang through his ears, and he felt adrenaline kick in, as he took three steps back and ran towards the door, hitting it as hard as he could with his shoulder, and ignoring the dull ache that followed, as the weak chain snapped away from the frame and the door swung open.

He ran in, his eyes hastily scanning the room as he moved, and he quickly spotted Allen and Emily in the far corner if the room, Allen's arm pinning Emily securely against the wall.

"Allen." Hotch bellowed, pulling his gun and aiming it at the side of Allen's head. "Step away from her now, or I'll blow a hole in you." He commanded.

"Oh surprise, surprise." Allen snarled. "Emily's little knight in shining armour to save the day." He sneered, pulling his arm quickly away from Emily anyway, and stepping back, causing Emily to slide down the wall and hit her elbow on a table.

"I don't want to kill you Allen, but so help me god, if you do not leave right now I will make you pay." Hotch hissed, taking a step closer and briefly chancing a glance at Emily, who was propping herself up against the wall and watching the exchange intently.

"You're all talk." Allen laughed bitterly, as he took another few steps back. "You don't have the balls to hit me." He added mockingly.

"Don't push me." Hotch growled, lowering his gun and raising his fist simultaneously.

"Like you could do much damage anyway." Allen gloated, though the fear was evident in his eye as he cautiously took a few more steps away from Emily, and began heading to the door. "Just don't get in my way." He added menacingly.

"Oh believe me, going anywhere near you is the last thing I want to do." Hotch replied, cashing in on his height advantage as Allen moved past him slowly.

"Oh one more thing though." Allen added, stopping right in front of Hotch when he spoke. "She's a bit of a prude... you may need to entice her." He sneered.

Possibly even before Allen spoke something inside Hotch snapped, and the second the last syllable left Allen's mouth, even before he had time to form a smirk, Hotch's left fist connected with the right side of his head, sending him tumbling backwards, and tripping on his own two feet, causing him to hit the floor with a bang.

Allen stayed on the floor in shock, not registering Hotch's foot flying at him until a burning pain radiated across his jaw. This pain was followed in quick succession by a hit to the hip and one to his rib cage, leaving him gasping for breath.

Hotch wasn't done yet though, and had his leg raised, ready to deal Allen a blow, this time to the crown jewels, just to be sure that there was no chance of this piece of dirt ever reproducing, when he felt a small hand grasp his shoulder firmly.

"Stop." Emily whispered, as Hotch turned slowly, confident that a now crippled Allen wouldn't try and fight back. "I don't want any more violence." She sighed.

"I swear no more violence... ever." Hotch replied, wrapping his arms tight around Emily and burying his head into the crook of her neck, kissing her lightly against a bruise that was forming on her shoulder.

"I just want to go." Emily sobbed, her cracking voice betraying her face, which was refusing to let tears fall for Allen to see.

"Ok, we're going... we're going to my place." Hotch promised, as he stepped back from her. "Just pack a bag and then you can leave, and never come back." He told her with a reassuring smile.

"No." Emily breathed, shaking her head in dismay. "No, I need to leave now... I can't... I can't... please can I just go." She pleaded quietly, biting her lip as she locked eyes with Hotch.

"Ok, ok... we can go now." Hotch replied quickly, nodding his head as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, being careful not to couch the bruising. "You have some stuff at my place anyway." He added, knowing that after she'd turned up at his door a few times he'd insisted that she make a drawer in his room of her clothes.

~.~.~.~.~.~

The drive to Hotch's place was a silent one, Emily paying more attention to the streetlights, than to Hotch's one and only attempt at making light conversation.

"I'm going to change." Emily informed Hotch the second he'd closed the exterior door behind them, disappearing into Hotch's bedroom before he'd even had a chance to turn around.

Hotch sighed, but headed to the kitchen to make hot chocolate, just like he always would, and waited patiently as the minutes ticked by, and Emily still hadn't returned. He was just about to go and look for her, when she reappeared, smiling brightly, even though her eyes were still red from crying.

"Sore anywhere?" Hotch questioned, as he normally would, while he handed her the drink and reached for the first aid kit.

"My neck hurts... but it's fine really." Emily replied, swatting away Hotch's hand as he lifted it to examine her bruising.

"Emily... what did Allen mean earlier?" Hotch questioned cautiously, looking at her as she took a careful sip of the steaming liquid he'd given her.

"When?" Emily asked quietly, shutting her eyes in anticipation for Hotch's reply.

"When he said you were a prude and needed... needed some enticing." Hotch needlessly reminded her, praying and hoping that he'd gotten the wrong end of the stick.

"Do I really need to answer that?" Emily whispered defiantly, looking Hotch in the eye and hoping he wouldn't push her.

"Does that mean I'm right?" Hotch inquired sadly.

"Yea..." Emily whispered, looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry." She added, as fresh tears built up in her eyes.

"Don't apologise." Hotch ordered her gently. "I'm the one who's sorry Emily, I should have seen it." He admitted as he pulled her close to his chest. "But I didn't so now all I can do is promise that nothing like this will ever happen again."  
_

There... Sort of a happy ending... oh, and fear not, the first chapter of the follow up story, which is going to be called "Make Me Strong Again" should be posted in the next couple of days.  
So thank you so much to everyone who's read this story, especially to those of you who reviewed it, and put it on your favourite list or alert list.


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